Tuesday, September 28, 2010Last Update: 8:04 AM PT

Supreme Court to Hear Corporate Privacy Case

By ANNIE YOUDERIAN

(CN) - The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to review a case questioning whether corporations like AT&T have a privacy interest in blocking the government from disclosing information about them. The Obama administration had asked the justices to review a 3rd Circuit order requiring the Federal Communications Commission to consider AT&T's privacy interests before releasing information about its billing practices. CompTel, a trade association representing some of AT&T's competitors, filed a Freedom of Information Act request for the FCC's investigative report of alleged overbilling. AT&T participated in an FCC program called E-Rate, through which telecommunications companies provide equipment and services to schools and then bill the government for their costs. In August 2004, AT&T voluntarily reported to the FCC that it might have overcharged for work done in a Connecticut school district. CompTel wanted the FCC to hand over its investigative report, including internal emails detailing pricing and billing, and names of employees involved in the alleged overbilling. AT&T asked the FCC to treat the documents as confidential, claiming they fell under a FOIA exemption for documents produced for law enforcement purposes. The agency rejected this argument, but the federal appeals court in Philadelphia ordered it to reconsider. "FOIA's text unambiguously indicates that a corporation may have a 'personal privacy' interest" under the claimed exemption, Judge Michael Chagares wrote. The high court has agreed to review FCC et al v. AT&T et al, docket number 09-1279.